Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Sewing Mama

I was able to meet the author, Liesl, who was so gracious to take a picture with me and Nia:

Nia LOVES books!

I come from a family of avid sewers and crocheters; my mom even made her own wedding dress:

She also would sew coordinating outfits for us and later for me and my siblings:

Gotta love the 80s!

Despite this I never learned to sew from my mom; this isn't to say I tried. One afternoon in highschool she helped me make Rugrats boxers which I still have, but somehow I misaligned the print and one leg is going the wrong direction!

When I was in Boston a fellow Wellesley alum and I signed up for sewing classes at the BCAE. Every Saturday for two months we brought our sewing machines through the snowy streets of Boston and I worked on my first real sewing project: black pants. Unfortunately, I got stuck on the zipper and never finished them. Also, I think the fabric I picked out wasn't the best. It picked up lint and was too crunchy or something!

Right now I only use my machine for minor projects and would like to pick sewing back up. When I was engaged my mom researched making my wedding dress and visited and called the various fabric stores here in NYC. While it was more economical to purchase my dress given the cost of flying back to Ohio for fittings my mom exclaimed how I'm right in the middle of all the best fabric and notions and with so much at my fingertips I should take advantage of it.

I don't have a lot of time to devote to sewing so when I read the reviews of Little Things to Sew I was very excited by the simplicity of the projects. Take a look:

During the signing Pins and Needles had a raffle for the book as well as a one hour sewing lesson. Well guess who won the sewing lesson???

Me! So the stars have aligned and I'm going to jump back into sewing. I'll post an update on my experience and my projects. I'm thinking of sewing my way through the book for the rest of the year and tracking my progress. I'll see how it comes together . . .